Let’s talk Lucky Romance Episode 3. All the episodes have been pretty consistent in terms of delivery so far. The third episode brought more laughs and continued to dig deeper into each character’s past.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! I mean, Raccoons and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! This was another animal heavy episode. I have to say, I’m loving the mix of playfulness, ridiculousness and emotional feels thrown in. This is quite the guilty pleasure drama.

When I’m in the middle of watching a show I really like, it’s such a fantastic feeling. I can look forward to subsequent episodes with joy, or marathon them if it’s an older show within a couple of intense days. If only I always had such luck. The truth is, this is not normally the way it goes.. at least certainly not recently. Perhaps I’m approaching the dreaded drama burn out, but lately when I scroll through shows to watch I go “Meh, meh, meh..”. Then I look through the movies and, “Well… I don’t really FEEL like that right now”. Now here’s scenario two: I start a show, but can’t get into it, or do get into it, but get bored towards the end despite my initial enthusiasm (or the enthusiasm of other drama watchers). So why is this happening? I’ve seen many great articles about some of the causes of drama burnouts and what you can do to get though it. They are very helpful, and sometimes suggest a much needed drama break… but here’s a different approach: find something really good (which is all we really want right?).

I am Zhagassi. I am 9 years old. My mom is Zhaoul, if you know her. The reason that i’m writing now is that my mom does it and she gets tons of views (mom’s laughing). So I thought why can’t I. Another reason is that no people I know watch Korean shows, so I can’t discuss them with others. So this way, I can let people know about my interests and they’ll understand what I’m talking about.

I’m going to talk about a show I’ve watched called The Return of Superman. In The Return of Superman, well, if you have never watched it, this is just a brief paragraph so you know what it’s about. In The Return of Superman, a Korean actor will just be his normal self, but he will be with his kids. Crazy things usually happen. I don’t know the actor’s name, but in my favourite episode the actor is on a cool trip with his three little boys. His three little boys all get tired of walking, so the actor ends up with a son on his back and the other ones ended up in the actor’s left and right hand.

The Return of Superman Rating:

The show The Return of Superman always gets my attention, so it makes me want to watch more. So I’m going to wrap it up now. I hope I have sparked your attention so you will watch The Return of Superman too. Oh and be sure to comment if you would like me to make another post. Thanks for listening.

*Please note, this movie is for mature audiences. The subject matter can be disturbing and is not recommended for a young audience. The review however will not go into such details in depth, but may briefly go over some of the topics discussed.

Quick Synopsis

Yang Mija (played by Yoon Jeong Hee) is a woman in her 60’s who is raising her grandson, struggling to get by with only a part-time job as a maid. She joins a poetry class and really wishes to write a poem, but her situation gets more complicated as some details of a girl’s suicide get revealed. Oh… and she finds out she’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

Not what I expected

Do you ever watch a movie, and to your surprise it’s not at all what you expected? That’s a kind of how I felt when I watched Poetry.

Poetry, as a heads up, was really surprising. It went in places I didn’t expect it to go and often made me feel uneasy. This is part of what makes it so brilliant.

I knew the movie would be profound and introspective, but I wasn’t prepared for it being so raw and frequently uncomfortable. What I loved the most about the movie was our lead actress, Yoon Jeong Hee. Her character was unique, profound, refreshing, realistic and magnetic.

This isn’t a movie to watch because there’s a cool oppa, a hot ahjussi, a lovely agassi or pretty noona.

There’s a very good reason this film won best screenplay at the 2010 Cannes Festival.

I guess I expected a sad drama, but one that was uplifting none the less. This wasn’t what I anticipated, it wasn’t really uplifting or encouraging, but it was exceedingly introspective.

The Frustrations

There’s so much that is out of our heroine’s control. She’s suffering from Alzheimer’s, and there’s nothing she can do about it. As her memories are fading, she’s having to deal with her troubled, mess of a grandson who shows a lack of respect.

I found the movie quite disturbing and difficult to swallow in many respects. It wasn’t until really thinking about it for quite some time after having watched it that I could begin to really appreciate it. A lot of the made me squirmish hitting areas of my brain with zaps of unease, and I’m usually extremely open to watching some bizarre things.

The movie is slow paced. It’s meant to really have you experience her situations through the way she sees and interprets it.

Bedroom scene? Wait, what?

So the irony was, I picked this movie to watch something other than a romance for a change. It’s not a romantic story by any means, but there was some very shocking, and unforeseen, revealing scenes.

The Acting

It’s amazing to me that this was Yoon Jeong Hee’s return to the screen after a 14 year hiatus. Her acting was flawless. It was like she wasn’t acting at all, but just a sweet little old lady that stumbled upon a screen and was living through emotions and searching her soul for poetic justice.

She’s an introvert. Even though she can seem quite outgoing and friendly in many ways, she’s someone who internalizes a lot of her thoughts. That seems to be part of the struggle for her to put her reflection into words in the form of a poem. I can really relate to this. We feel our emotions, but to put everything together the way we want can be quite a challenge.

I think if you can handle a re-watch of this kind of movie it would be beneficial. I feel like I missed a lot of nuances and probably misinterpreted some scenes.

It’s not a movie I would openly recommend. I would only recommend it to independent film lovers, who appreciate the message in a movie rather than the entertainment aspect. Also, if you do watch it, be ready to feel very uncomfortable. I came really close to shutting the movie off; not because the movie wasn’t good, but because the director was pushing me to my limit in terms of comfort zone. I have to commend him for that. That doesn’t usually happen to me.

Movie Interpretation

The way I see this movie is this; Yoon Jeong Hee feels torn and lost. She feels things deeply due to her empathy towards others, and that could be part of the reason that she is drawn to poetry to begin with. She loves her grandson, but every fiber of the body rejects his actions (not him as a person but his actions) and this makes her truly grieve. As she tries to deal with the unfolded events, she tries to really gather in her surroundings. Without even realizing it, she starts experiencing and understanding things through the eyes of the victim. I believe the poem reveals her heart, but at the same time it captures the feelings of the girl who passed away.

There’s no real resolution in this movie. There’s no magic answer of “Oh, well, if you look at life this way instead of that way everything will be better” It’s more that, in her journey of dealing with situations, she managed to capture the emotion of it, and in that there’s some liberation.

Closing Thoughts

I would recommend this movie to Art House lovers, and those that like to heavily dissect slow paced, introspective movies. There’s a lot of brilliance in this movie.. but I equate it to a disturbing painting. It will cause you to feel things that perhaps you don’t want to feel; but in that it may open your mind to seeing things from a different perspective.

Quick Synopsis:Sayuri’s father and Yui’s mother are getting married which will make them step-sisters. Sayuri in particular is not a fan of this unexpected change in her life. After some serious resistance to her new blended family, Sayuri (Itoh Sairi) and Yui (Sakuma Yui) start developing an attraction and bond outside of sisterly affection. How will this effect the family dynamic?

Bring on the Girls Love

Just like the drama, my review is going to be short and sweet. Honestly, I haven’t seen very many (if any) Girls Love dramas before. Think what you will, but I’ve seen quite a bit of Boys Love (Yaoi) so I think it’s only fair to also check out a Girls Love drama. I’m a firm believer in love is love, and I thought this drama illustrated that very well.

Quick Synopsis: Han Mi Mo, Go Dong Mi, Baek Da Jung and Hong Ae Ran are four close friends that are also four of the former members of the idol group Angels. Han Mi Mo is a divorcée who longs for everlasting love. She also runs a match-making service for other divorcé(e)s. Song Soo Hyuk (Jung Kyoung Ho) is a single father and Mi Mo’s neighbour. After a drunken night, things begin to get interesting and a little complicated…

One More Happy Ending… It’s a guarantee, right?

Why do we watch romantic comedies? Think about it for a moment. This may vary slightly from person to person, but I know why I watch them. Yes, sometimes I really need something light-hearted where I can have a good laugh… but in dramaland “rom coms” can still take dramatic turns. So what is the real reason? The Happy Ending, of course.Even if a rom com has illness, amnesia, broken hearts, separations, misunderstandings, deception, birth secrets and so forth… it’s pretty safe to assume, if it was labelled a rom com, it will end on a happy note.

Here’s another rom com, one that’s sure to end on a high note simply because of the title right? So let’s take a closer look at this Happy Ending drama and discover (or rediscover) all the marvellous feels.

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